Notes from the Director's Desk | Feb 2018
As I look back over seven years I wonder who would have thought it possible that in the next few weeks we will have completed building our 700th Mobility Cart! 

We have done this with great supporters and volunteers working three or four hours each week in our shop. And the result is already the lives of more than 650 of God's poorest children have had their lives changed for the better because we helped give back their mobility and their dignity.

Not only are the lives changed for the person getting the cart. But we have also helped their families, their homes, their communities.

In our last letter I told you how much we love having groups come by our shop to devote some time to our work. In December a group of students came from Overton High School, under the direction of a teacher, Hank Lamport. The students loved their visit and learned a lot. They learned what life is like in a Third World country. The did some work on carts and - the best part - they test drove one! 

We thank Hank and the students for helping us change the world one cart at a time.

In the new year we started a new relationship with a church in Ramer, Tennessee. Unity Church gave up their Sunday School time to hear me talk! We got a positive response from the congregation, with many members wanting to be part of God's Mobility.

Our thanks to Pastor Greg and the whole church for making us w
elcome and for their donations. Hope to see you all soon.

The final item I want to leave with you today is just this: remember the last command Christ gave before he left this earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of time." (Matt. 28: 19-20)

Not everyone can go on a foreign mission trip, but we have all at some time thought or dreamed about doing just that. With Mobility Worldwide - you can go on one with us. If not in body, then in spirit. How?

You can pray for our mission of mobility, and pray for the next one of God' s children who needs a cart. You can always give funds to help us build carts.

Help us make new friends in Third World countries, where we 
can be a friend and lead a friend  to Christ by giving the gift of mobility.

In Christ,

Mark Griffy, Executive  Director, Mobility Worldwide Memphis

One volunteer models the deepest and most
lasting meanings of 'service'

To Wade Hammons, service and mission are as fundamental as breathing ... and as personal as his own faith.

This energetic 85-year-old who manages the Worldwide Mobility - Memphis shop traces his life-long habit of helping people, and witnessing his Christian faith along the way, to when as a boy he heard his elders tell about an uncle's ultimate sacrifice as a U.S. Marine in World War II.

"He was killed over in Guam and was buried at sea," Wade said. "That example of courage instilled in me a desire to serve my country and to find ways to witness for God while doing it." 

First this Bolivar native tested his interest by entering the National Guard in 1950 and serving for seven years. That went well and so he then joined the U.S. Army as a medic, serving for 23 years and retiring in 1980.

He soon began to look for his next area of service, interviewed and was accepted by three Veterans Administration hospitals. The Memphis VA got him, and there he practiced nursing until a second retirement in 2010.

But retirement is one thing. Giving up a life of service is another.

As he was looking for a new purpose and mission he one day saw a photo at his church, Ellendale Baptist Church, about an organization that helps people in poor countries who can't walk by providing lovingly-made, hand-made mobility.

"
It came over me suddenly," he said. "God was telling me this is what you are going to do. I literally ran around the church to find out exactly what that was." On his search he discovered in the church foyer one of the Mobility carts, and a volunteer, Mrs. Jimmy Lovelace, who was more than happy to invite him to join the effort.


Since then Wade has found a mission and a brotherhood of volunteers who pray together and work side by side so that people they likely never will meet will be able to see their lives improve immeasurably.

"We are so blessed to have Mr. Hammond's help in the organizing and running of our shop and our mission," said Mark Griffy, executive director.
90 carts ship out 1 week before Christmas

We really love it when we can do a mission trip - we call them "mobile builds" - to get new volunteers involved in building carts. Or when we can bring a team into our shop to help, that is a morale booster, too.Our shop volunteers really stepped up as the holidays approached. They put in extra hours so that we could complete building the last 12 carts that were partly assembled so that a full order of 90 Mobility Carts could be shipped to our distribution partners by the end of the year.

We are blessed with such great volunteers.

The 90 carts went to our friends at Americares in Stamford, Connecticut. Americares helps Mobility Worldwide ship carts all over the world. They will give us a call this March to let us know where our 90 end up. If you would like to know more about this great global health organization check out their web site - www.americares.org
Meet your Mobility Worldwide - Memphis Board

Our Board of Directors meet three or four times a year and we appreciate their hard work. We are always looking for people who love our mission to serve and are interested in working on the Board. Call Mark Griffy, (901) 921-5586 for more information or email him at [email protected] Board members serve for a three-year term. The current members:

Mark Griffy, Bartlett, TN - Executive Director
Mark Bogan, Arlington, TN - RN
Charles Anderson, Stuttgart, AR - Self-employed
Tully Noe, Bartlett, TN - Glazier
Michael Ball, Bartlett, TN - Purchasing Agent
Frank Holbrook, Martin, TN - Attorney (Ret.)
Neils French, Memphis, TN - Methodist Health Care
Debbie Griste-Evans, Bartlett, TN - School Teacher (Ret.)

Our loss = God's gain

In the last few months at the Memphis shop we lost two of what we call "family members." Mr. T.O. Sain was our eldest volunteer. He'd been volunteering for - well - we can't remember Mr. T.O. not being there! (That's going on eight years.)

Mr. T.O. would do whatever he needed to make sure carts got finished. He would even take parts home and paint them. We wish to thank his family for sharing him with us.

Also, one of our volunteers and a board member, Frank Gafe, gave his lovely wife Billie to be with her heavenly Father due to a long illness. We remember Billie always answering the phone and always asking how we were doing. What a blessing to have had Billie, too, as a part of our Mobility family!

We've got a great thing going

At Mobility Worldwide - Memphis we have a great mission under way, but we do need your help in telling others.

We love visiting churches, Sunday School classes, small groups and clubs and organizations to tell God's story about our project.

We are sharing our web site address, Facebook page address and our phone numb er here.
Thanks so much. As Paul writes in Philippians: Greace and Peace to you from God and from Mobility Worldwide - Memphis.

Mobility Worldwide - Memphis

Our mission is to reflect the love of Jesus Christ by bringing
mobility and dignity  to those in developing countries who are unable to walk.

Donations appreciated

It is easy to make a donation to keep our ministry going and to help us give the gift of mobility to more people.  You can donate online by visiting our website  and clicking on the red DONATE NOW button.

Or you can send us a check by mail to Mobility Worldwide - Memphis, P.O. Box 26, Ellendale, TN, 38029.